‘Operations vs. spy based on evidence’

On Jan. 17, Deng Yuanqing and two Filipinos were arrested for allegedly conducting illegal surveillance and spying activities targeting military installations and power facilities in the country.

However, Deng’s wife denied that her husband was a spy.

The AFP also maintained that the Chinese national and his two Filipino cohorts who were recently arrested were engaged in “unauthorized foreign intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance activity.”

This came as the foreigner’s family asserted his innocence of espionage allegations.

In an ambush interview, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said that any “clandestine activity” is normally not revealed.

She added that data recovered from the confiscated equipment of the suspects contained maps of the country’s critical infrastructure and could not be easily changed or manipulated.

“So the servers contain maps of critical infrastructures, salient features like military camps. So, what would they be doing with the data on military camps and PNP (Philippine National Police) camps, and critical infrastructures,” Padilla said.

She said the AFP is taking this matter seriously as it involves national security.

Also, the AFP spokesperson said that they are working with “empirical data” and not on hearsay in dealing with the issue.

“So kaya nga tayo nagko-conduct ng investigation para yung accurate na data yun po yung lumabas (so we are conducting investigations for more accurate data to come out),” Padilla noted.

She also reiterated calls of ranking security government officials to toughen and improve the country’s existing espionage law.

Among the items seized included a Toyota Rav4 SUV equipped which was used as a “rover” for locator and mapping devices which can pinpoint coordinates accurate to up to a centimeter. — Rex Espiritu